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Hey, So about 5pm every day of late, my mood just turns black. I can't buy a neutral (forget positive) cognition or emotion, I start to feel and think very negatively no matter what I do. Of course, I'm feeling and thinking badly beforehand, but it just sinks to another level, or depth if you will. So I'm wondering if it's a med (or meds) that I'm taking that's losing effect around 5pm. I take the following meds - yes, it's a crazy-looking brew I know, but it allows me to function somewhat - at 6am (in milligrams): 200 Provigil, 2.5 Abilify, 40 Fetzima, 30 Lexapro, 15 BuSpar, 150 Lyrica, 10 Percocet and these at 2pm: 150 Lyrica, 15 BuSpar and these 4 times a day, where the last dose is typically 2pm: 15 Adderall 10 Percocet (for chronic pain) and these at 7pm for sleep: 150 Trazodone, 50 Benedryl It's impossible to confidently predict a "culprit" but if anyone has any hunches, I'd love to hear them. For example, today I'm splitting (some of) the 6am batch into two and taking the second half at 2pm as an experiment. I feel that empirical experimentation might be the way to go because the theory is too complex with this many psychotropic medications in play. Cheers , Pete

I will make this as to the point as possible. First time ever posting on blogs, Hoping this place can aid decisions along with psychiatrist. I was diagnosed with Depression, Anxiety, and Adhd at age 14. (22yo now) My depression has gone from moderate to bad, to severe over the years. This is not the suicidal, crying every night type of depression. This is a (Complete Lack of motivation, energy, drive, initiation,) type of depression. I oversleep and when i wake up, my life is just grey, and uninteresting. Doing anything takes sooooo much fuckin effort. I litterally cannot hold a job, or do any simple tasks. Life is Overwhelming. Past medications include, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, cymbalta, remeron, strattera, are the main ones, with little to no benefit, however strattera had the biggest impact on my energy, depression, and motivation. The issue with strattera is that the burst of motivation did not last long. An increase of Strattera equalled 3 weeks of Motivation Boost, followed by nothing (as if i never took the medication.) Had a genetic test done that shows i might react better to SNRI's rather than SSRI's. Because of my report of Strattera, my doc now Prescribed Fetzima (Works more on norepinephrine neurotransmitter). I might have Treatment Resistant Depression so he augmented Fetzima with Abilify (2mg), in hopes of them enhancing Each other. 3 months on fetzima, (now max dose of 120mg) i noticed very Minor changes. Which could indicate my TRD. Well i Indicated my depression has not improved much so he increased abilify to 4mg. Second day on 4mg and i feel as though its making my Energy and Depression Worse. I really want to stop taking abilify, however i might take it a couple more days to test it out. Here is my Main Question. Are there any atypical antipsychotics that do not cause any sedation, or one that causes the least amount of sedation compared to others? That is basically my only question actually. Feel free to chime in on how Fetzima has worked out for you, and if you have TRD, and have found the right combo that helps you. Thank You Guys!

Hi There, I'm not much of a poster. But, I've noticed when you are trying to look up people's personal experience with meds, usually the reports are from people who have had really bad experiences, and so you don't normally get the full range of experiences. I'm assuming, the people who are fine, on certain meds, don't really post anything, because they've had no problems with it. Also, I wanted to post about Fetzima, because there is basically not a lot of information on it, so I felt like I wanted to share with the community to help others out who are deciding what to do. And, these forums were always helpful for me on my med research, so I wanted to contribute. I was on Fetzima for probably 3 years. My main medicine was Lamotrigine/Lamictal 150mg, which controlled my depression crashes. And, I needed a depression booster because of my dysthymia. I was on 40mg the whole time of Fetzima. I learned over the years, the SSRI's did nothing for me. I tried everything in the book. Finally, this, actually, good psych doctor recommended an SNRI, Fetzima. I remember in the beginning, my only side effect was cold sweats. Like wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat. It was not that fun. But, my depression improved and I was finally stable and felt good for the first time in my entire life. And, I told myself, I'll take the cold sweats, if it means I feel like a normal functioning adult human being. But, after a while, maybe 2-3 weeks, the cold sweats subsided. After that, Fetzima worked! It was great, the first depression med that I ever felt good on, didn't feel weird, was happy, held a job, friends, etc. Amazing! Then, I worked really, really hard with my therapist. I did everything I could possibly do to get better. I never wanted to be on meds. I wanted to treat myself and get better, and the end. I have severe trauma as a kid, and in result, suffered from severe depression, suicidal ideation, couldn't move or function, anxiety, social anxiety, and pretty much everything that goes along with that. Although, on the outside, you would never suspect it; I have a master's degree, I'm outgoing, friendly, etc. (Just trying to give you guys a picture of the situation). So, yes, I, personally, would recommend it. And, had no problems with it. Although, because it's a newer med, and no one has ever heard of it, there is no a lot of research on the long term effects. Obviously, medicine is different for everyone, but Fetzima worked for me. I finally felt good enough and stable enough to try to get off my meds, 3 years later. I recently tapered off of Fetzima, 20mg for 1 month, and then off. It was not that fun, but, it wasn't horrible, and it is not the horror stories that I've read from others online. I had one day of a pretty bad depression crash (maybe two), although, I knew it, and I knew what was happening, and I just reached out to everyone to help me through it. And, I know that a side effect of withdrawal is depression! Because your body is used to the meds, and then it doesn't have it anymore, so it takes a while for your brain to even out. The other very seriously difficult part for me- was the brain fog- brain cognition defects. I've never had anything like this before in my life, always good in school, always able to concentrate. I never even pay attention to that one on the list of issues that could arise. But, I was in a class that week, and it was rough! I couldn't concentrate, couldn't focus, fidgety, I felt like my brain was at 80%. It was a big struggle. I was scared my brain was going to be like this forever, and kept having to remind myself that it's the withdrawal. I, also, decided I'd rather deal with the withdrawal, then be on this forever, so I put up with it. And, probably after a week or two it went away. And, that's it! My emotions are okay! No depression! I'm very proud of myself, and I feel like the trauma therapy really worked! (So, I'd recommend that too). A lot of people "poo poo" talk therapists, and honestly, going through a lot of them since I was a teenager, a lot of them are pretty bad. But, once you find a good one, which can take a bunch of tries. It pretty much changed everything for me. Took a solid 4 years, I'd say of serious talk therapy from 2014-2018. But, I am a happy/content human being now! And, it was worth everything! And, I have someone I can check in with now, but don't need to go regularly, which feels amazing too! The meds teach you (or, taught me) what it was like to be stable and content. Which, I had never felt before in my life. And, then once you get off of them, your brain has been trained to know what being stable and content is, (and you've added the skills and tools you need to, through talk therapy to help yourself through), so, it'll go back to where it needs to go. Obviously, some people will need to be on meds forever, and that's okay too. I'm just sharing my personal experience. I'm now feeling strong enough to taper off my Lamotrigine 150mg. Which will be 125mg for 3 weeks, then 100mg for 3 weeks, then 75mg, 50mg, 25mg each for 3 weeks, and then 0! We're just doing it very, very slow. And, I hope it goes well! So, I'll share that experience too, in a couple months. Anyways, that's my review of Fetzima! And, it worked for me, while it needed to.

I'm on day seven of the sample pack at 40 mg, insanely irritable the last two days. Not too much nausea and sleep is OK though I take a supplement that has melatonin and Valerian. There really isn't a lot on the Internet about this drug as far as reviews. I think I can manage the side effects but I'm wondering how long they last? If Anyone has ANY input on this drug I would greatly appreciate it. 35, female GAD since 1999 MDD since 2010 I have only taken Zoloft for maybe three weeks in 2000, and just finished a four week trial of Lexapro… I think the doc may have taken me off the Lexapro too soon but I guess it's supposed to start working around three weeks. I spent a long time trying to fix this bullshit myself and I'm over it.

I am curious if there is any interaction between these drugs and ketamine infusion

Excuse the onslaught of possible typos and bad grammar here. I'm shaking like crazy :-((. My name is cat, i'm 17, Diagnosed with MDD (have done research for a few years and possibly rethinking diag. being Borderline PD or Bipolar disorder, psych agrees) and currently pulling through a med journey. I've went from Prozac (I was even more of a youngling when i started this, i have no memory of how it affected me at all), Zoloft (crazy emotional cycling/violent outburts. Oh and it flatlined on me too. Still on it though, currently weaning 50mg.), Saphris, Abilify (Great mood stabilizer, bad side effects like super duper shakiness/anxiety, crazy restlessness, and pressured speech). That's alot to read, I know but now i'll get to the point- I'm currently trying out Fetzima 20mg. Odd choice in my opinion and i dont know why my psych saw it as a good decision but so far it's killing me. Mix of drowsiness (all day drowsiness that is) and slight restlessness causing lack of sleep which amplifies my main issue, ANXIETY. I haven't been able to go to school, mild and frequent dissocation, bruxism, and even when i do attend school- walking through the hallways is a nightmare. I know none of you are licensed Pdocs but I would like some insight on medications that could benefit me. I've been thinking Ativan, Lexapro, or Cymbalta. You know, meds that are actually known amongst a majority of people unlike Fetzima. Thank you for the advice and commenting, that is if you do :~)). - Cat

Hello, I am posting my experience due to the fact that Fetzima is so new and many are changing from either Effexor/Pristiq so I thought I would share. (I apologize ahead for my poor memory, concept of time and any specifics I did not include) Diagnosis: MDD, GAD, Bipolar II, Dsythymia, ADHD, Insomnia Stamped as "Med-Resistant" Well the last 4ish months or so have been quite interesting to say the least, and still going..... I had been on Effexor XR 375mg for around 4 years and it did well in comparison to everything else I have tried (ill post below) but because of being med resistant tweaking here and there was always being done but Effexor was never touched, about 4 months ago I started to feel very down for longer periods of time and much deeper in "the hole" So I suggested to my doc whether or not switching up Effexor might help, she then mentioned Fetzima and how it was new and told me the mini background about it etc..But she wanted to give Effexor one last try so she decided to bump me up to 450mg, she said she had other patients on this dose and it helped. I know that many think its insane to be put on such a high dose, agreed.. but I trust my doctor. So I jumped up to 450mg, no side effects noticed but around 2 weeks in, severe depression, a lot of crying (where as before it was difficult for me to cry), rapid mood swings.So I got worse. Back to the doc I go but she was on vacation so I had to see her NP instead, we then decide that we are coming off Effexor (at this point I know that I am to expect hell because I had been hearing of how hard it is to get off Effexor) so we map it out.. we essentially drop 150mg for 3 days then drop 150mg again and at the same time introducing Fetzima starting at 40mg for 3 days then 80mg and maintaining at that dose. Confusing I know.. essentially after we drew it all out she was taking me off 450mg of Effexor in 2 weeks while at the same time titrating Fetzima up to 80mg. Yeah.. I was not looking forward to this but I put on my game face and here we go.. first week, felt no symptoms.. week two.. nausea, little brain zaps, I was already emotionally unstable but there was much more crying and some anxiety and now suicidal thoughts which is rare for me. . I reached my last day of having to take Effexor like at champ or as well as I could heh, I was now down to 75mg, did that for 3 days then came off completely. .. Then thats when "shit got real" the next 7 days were hell of course, extreme nausea, dry heaving, sweating, dizziness, crazy brain zaps. Emotionally a wreck of course, mood swings but that week the physical symptoms are what were driving me crazy. After about a week of that then they started to subside and I was doing better, the nausea stuck around for about 2 weeks .Bad move on the NP on weaning me off so quickly from such a high dose, I then found out that there are much smoother ways of coming off including using Prozac (i think) for the serotonin withdraw symptoms and plus the 37.5mg dose too. It was also partially my fault as well, I should have gone with my gut that this was too fast and called them to tell them about the hell I was going through but I just wanted it over with. Cool.. Effexor done. Fetzima fully driving. So about a week or so after all that, its like a fog was lifted and I woke up one morning angry as hell and clear headed, I was angry for god knows what but I got up and started functioning again, getting stuff done.(not hypomania style) I was very irritable and had very little patience with ANYTHING/ONE, and then the extreme anxiety began, it would happen about 5hrs after taking my dose in the morning, id have really bad anxiety but I had never experienced it like this before, its a tightness in your chest and you feel on the verge of tears for no reason at all..I would try to ride it out but some days I could not do it and would take a 1mg Xanax. My anger became worse, I became unsympathetic, cold, always on the verge to snap and then the anxiety and on top of that trying to control myself the whole time, it was nuts. So called up the doc and she bumped me up to 120mg, everything stayed the same but 4 weeks into it, I became worse, I would avoid people because I didn't have the energy to control myself from snapping at them or just crying for no reason, when I went up thats when the extreme sadness that I haven't felt in years showed up, indescribable despair, devastation. I am sure some of you understand what I mean.. My moods were insane, I felt like different people throughout the day, start off okay, raging lunatic at lunch, anxious mess then suicidal at night, suicidal thoughts were on a biweekly type thing now. Which is rare for me. Called doc and she put me back down to 80mg and added Abilify 1mg. That was approx.. 6 weeks ago, afternoon anxiety subsided for 3 days then it was back, rapid mood cycling, the overwhelming sadness etc.. I had had enough, last friday I went in and saw my doc and said okay, gave Fetzima a try and nope, I want off NOW. So new plan, got off Abilify and off Fetzima cold turkey and started Pristiq 50mg and today I am on day 3. Afternoon anxiety hasn't happened in the last 2 days so thats cool, still very down, same ol, I expect that though, As most of us know Effexor and Pristiq are like twin sisters etc, so I'm aware of that stuff. I just hope to not be how I am right now, still extremely depressed, irritable, rapid cycling and just the worst I have been in a looong time, at least 10 years. In retrospect I shouldn't have gotten off Effexor, do I think Pristiq will work wonders and be better than Effexor? Nah not really, but anything is better than this. But I do sometimes wonder where the point of "this is as good as it gets" is and if I have reached it before but decided to gamble again. Well that's a whole other topic though. Good Luck to those trying Fetzima please be careful, and I hope it works for you. To my fellow "Got off Effexor" warriors, I give you props haha. And to the Pristiq old/new crowd, please let me know what your experience was/is when starting out. Also has anyone been on Effexor and then Pristiq? How did that go? - I am a noob and have not figured out the signature thing yet but for the sake of this post I will post what I am taking now: Pristiq 50mg, Lamictal 400mg, Seroquel 50mg(for sleep but about to change), Dalmane (Not working for insomnia so going to change), Xanax 1mg (as needed) Adderall - 45mg twice a day Meds I have tried: Abilify - Latuda - Risperdal - Seroquel - Lexapro - Paxil - Zoloft - Cymbalta - Effexor XR - Xanax - Clonazapam - Flurazepam - Lorazapam - Remeron - Elavil - Prozac - Fluxeetine - Wellbutrin - Zyprexa - Ritalin -Vyvanse - Deplin - Fetzima - Pristiq

I've been reading a lot on this board about the new Fetzima. I was put on it four weeks ago by my GP when my Cymbalta just didn't seem to get the job done anymore. I've been on antidepressants off and on since 1996 but wasn't diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and ADD until four years ago. Up until then I had been on every drug you can imagine for depression. Cymbalta changed/saved my life, but my insurance company began to only supply me with generic, and I could tell immediately that it just wasn't the same. I started getting brain zaps, and that would usually only happen if I missed a dose. So my GP suggested Fetzima. The first couple of weeks I had the zaps and was a bit fuzzy in the brain, but all in all the transition was a smooth one. I felt decent and was just glad to be taking a non-generic for a change. Then last Friday night happened. 12/19/14 went to holiday party and proceeded to poison myself with shots of liquor. By 10 p.m. I had fallen down twice, blacked out (although I was awake) and could not stop throwing up. (Not typical behavior when I drink!) Husband drove me home. I did not take my Fetzima that night because I knew I would throw it back up. Threw up all the next day until around 3 when I could finally keep some soup down. That's when I took my Friday dosage of Fetzima. Had to stay in bed because I was so physically ill. Slept a majority of the time, took Fetz at normal time Saturday night. Sunday was still ill, brain not functioning correctly, irrational thoughts, completely depressed, slept most of the day and night. Took Fetz on time Sunday night. Monday was hoping to feel better but depression was worse. Fought with husband who doesn't understand what's going on, threw a fit and threw crap around the house, scared the cats, announced that I hate Christmas and I hate my birthday (on Xmas day), I don't want people at my house on Christmas, I don't give a crap about the stupid gifts and everything can be thrown in the trash for all I care. Threatened to leave my husband to be alone at our lake house, he wouldn't let me leave because (mostly) he thought I would hurt myself there or on the way up have a wreck on purpose. I scared him and scared myself that I was being so irrational. I told him of suicide plans that I had made back in the 90s, that it's always there in the back of my mind. He asked if I needed to go to the hospital but I eventually calmed down and showered for the first time in two days and brushed my teeth for the first time in three. I took two Klonopin and slept most of the rest of the day. I felt insane. I now feel incredible guilt for my behavior which compounds this helpless feeling. I want to feel better so today I'll be leaving the house for the first time since Friday. But I'm still here crying, guilty... Everything was fine until the alcohol Friday night. I haven't eaten hardly anything, trying to stay hydrated with water but I'm hardly peeing and can't remember the last time I pooped. I don't know if I'm not eating because I'm not hungry or if I'm just trying to hurt myself? I've lost 10 pounds since November... not on purpose, just burning more calories than I eat. I'm a runner but haven't been able to since last week because the weather is so bad and I really don't know right now if I could run if I tried. Am I doing this to myself - am I in control of my actions, or did all that alcohol and Fetzima really affect my brain so significantly? My family has been through a lot these past two months; my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 renal cancer and had to have her kidney removed and three tumors in the artery from the kidney to the heart, the same week I started taking Fetzima. I have been strong for her and my family but everything seems to be crashing down now. I had been fine until Friday night. This is supposed to be a wonderful time of the year but I just want the holidays over so I can get back into a routine. I am a teacher and I hold my shit together and I'm a professional but these last 4 days have been the worst of my life. I have presents to wrap and I don't even care if they get wrapped at all. I have got to have a better day today.... certainly my brain cannot still be mucked up from the alcohol 4 days ago??? Has anyone else had this experience... getting REALLY drunk on Fetzima (I weigh 107 and had probably 10 or more Fireball shots) and then being bed-ridden for four days??? I'm desperate for advice... I don't talk to my friends about this because I'm embarrassed, and my husband has never suffered from mental illness, so while he tries to make things better, (yesterday he told me I needed to snap out of it - I snapped alright), he only makes things worse. And that compounds my guilt also. When am I going to feel better? Can alcohol + Fetzima basically make someone go insane???

Hi, I'm new to crazy boards (if this is the wrong place to put this, let me know.) Like you I've had issues with depression and anxiety (I'm diagnosed OCD as well) for most of my life. I tried a few things Prozac sort of worked when I was young, but left me really flat feeling. More recently I was on Setraline (Zoloft) and Wellbutrin which helped for a little while (6-8 months) but then 'pooped out'. I started taking Fetzima about four weeks ago, and wanted to pass along my experience. It's pretty hard to discern if a symptom can be attributed to the medicine, or any number of other things, so I tried to be as scientific as possible when observing my own. (We all get headaches from time to time, but was it unusual or happening more often?) The good news: I feel so much better. Much better results than I've had with other drugs. These things work differently for everyone, so who knows if your response will be similar, but for me, its vastly better. I would wake up every morning with terrible guilt and depression, would internally beat myself up throughout the day, felt constantly tired, and felt like nothing really mattered or had purpose. The majority of all that is gone. I feel like I have my energy back, and I don't feel 'flat' or 'high'.. I feel like the me I should be. Side effects: The first couple days I felt spacey and had some vertigo (and still get it mildly occasionally.) I also had some headaches, but those have gone away. My appetite has gone WAY down and I've lost several pounds (which isn't a bad thing), I'm also a smoker and bet if I quit smoking my appetite would balance out. It does give you some energy, but now that I've been on it for several weeks it seems to have balanced out a bit. I still have more energy, feel like I can take on doing things, etc, but I don't personally feel anxious (which is amazing for me.) Initially that extra energy messed up sleeping a bit, but again it balanced out and now I feel like I sleep better because I'm energetic (and doing things during the day) and sleeping hard at night. I have a glass or two of wine every night and haven't noticed any effect (except that I have to be careful because I'm not eating very much at night, so I may get a bit drunk easily.) I hope this helps anyone looking to try it. For me it has been really good, but again everybody reacts different to different things. I hope it doesn't 'poop out' at some point. I've always really hated how other drugs made me feel flat or loopy (or crazy), but on this I just feel normal.

I've been a long time reader of the boards but just decided to join because of the lack of information on Fetzima. I've been taking it for a month now and had a horrible experience these past few days. I've been struggling with depression, especially anxiety, since my teens; mom has OCD/hoarding disorder and dad was just diagnosed at 67 with bipolar disorder (we all knew that, he just wouldn't got to the doc to get medicated). It's beyond me why two wacked out humans would get together and spread their horrible genetics to not just one child, but two. My brother is a bigger mess than I am. I decided not to have children to try to end this bloodline! I've been on Prozac, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Pristique, Buspar, Depakote, Remeron, Cymbalta, now Fetzima, and I know I'm forgetting some. Reading these boards have helped me realize I'm not alone in my struggles. Thank you for that.

I currently have a sample pack that says "Days 1 and 2 take 20mg, Days 3-7 take 40mg". But then it doesn't say anything about the first week? Should one continue to take 40mg, or should dosage be bumped up again?

Hi People! All I wanted was to switch from Pristiq 100mg to something that would allow me to want an intimate relationship. Must have been asking too much. Only problem with Pristiq was extremely dry mouth, waking up after 2 hours of sleep unable to get back to sleep and probably a little too happy ( lack of empathy, binge eating, etc). Started Fetzima Tuesday, no wean down from Pristiq. Wednesday extremely nauseous, hot flashes, sweating, racing heartbeat, vivid dreams the few hours I did sleep. Thursday more nausea, throwing up, jittery, hot flashes. Too miserable to stay at work. So I'm waiting to hear from my doc. I have no tolerance for stuff like this. Have been on meds for over 20 years. Wellbutrin, Effexor, Prozac. Never felt this bad! Good luck to all of us trying to manage this emotional disorder stuff.